…GCCI President urges colleagues to be “rational thinkers”

THE private sector must function to keep the government “on track” particularly to safeguard against common pitfalls with the oil and gas sector, Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI) President, Nicolas Deygoo-Boyer said. He also called on his colleagues to be rational thinkers and not allow themselves to be pulled and tugged by politicians. Both the GCCI and the Private Sector Commission have been accused of pandering to the political opposition and have been strident in their criticisms of the current government – something which was markedly absent during the PPP rule. Boyer himself was recently flayed for declaring that the probe into the giveaway of oil blocks by the PPP is a waste of time. The Opposition Leader, Bharrat Jagdeo, and Presidential Candidate of the PPP, Irfaan Ali, have been tied to the giveaway of the oil blocks – a claim they have denied.

Boyer made these remarks on Friday night as the GCCI launched its 2019 edition of the Business Guyana magazine under the theme: “Guyana: Potential Unleashed”. GCCI Executive Director and magazine editor, Richard Rambarran, said the magazine aims to be a “one stop shop” for any businessperson seeking to invest in Guyana.

According to Rambarran, this year, the magazine took a new and focused approach to providing information to investors. What it encompasses now is various sections under broad thematic titles. These are: Investment – sectors, regime & policies; Investors roadmap; Private sector development; and general information on Guyana.

“This magazine has very diverse perspectives on our economy both to foreign and local business people,” Boyer said.

Underscoring that the magazine highlights both the investment climate of Guyana as well as the private sector’s role in the country’s development, Boyer provided the nexus to what this means for the business people present at the launch and for investors generally.

He remarked that Guyana has shown a fair amount of growth, with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) recording a 4.1 per cent growth in the country’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for 2018. This growth was primarily led by the construction and service sectors.

In fact, Boyer remarked: “What has kept the growth rate alive has been the construction sector,” and added that the growth in this sector has come from investment being made in preparation for ‘first oil’ come 2020. But with the signs of growth in the economy being led by this sector, he said keen attention must be paid to the feared ‘Dutch Disease’.

This curse or disease occurs when there is an increase in the economic development of a specific sector (like the oil and gas sector) and a decline in other sectors (for example, agriculture, mining, etc).

With indication of growth in the construction sector attributed to the oil and gas sector, Boyer urged all to be conscious of this. He also said that with the significant revenues expected to flow as a result of the development of that industry, he said Guyana also runs the risk of inflation if it does not safeguard itself. As a result of these possibilities, he posited that the GCCI needs to support and press for policies that support traditional sectors and renewable sector. “We will continue to monitor it and advocate for level-headed policies,” he affirmed. This, he further explained, means that the chamber will continue its efforts to keep the countries politicians “on track”. Speaking to his colleagues in the business realm, he opined that there is a “state of tension” that arises every five years – when it is time for Regional and General Elections to be held.

With the prospect of elections in less than one year’s time, he also implored them to be “rational thinkers” and not allow themselves to be “tugged and pulled”. Instead, he noted that they have a role to play in holding political parties accountable and reducing the tension faced every political cycle.

But even in spite of his warnings, the GCCI President noted that the country is still young – at only 53 years – and has a prosperous future ahead. “When I talk about young certainty I talk about now. When I talk about potential unleashed, I talk about the future,” the President stressed. He also reasoned: “Oil by itself is not what will get us to prosperity.” Instead, he shared that it is only through collaborated support from all stakeholders, especially the private sector and within this sector, that prosperity can come to Guyana.

Director of Economics at the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), Dr. Justin Ram, also giving remarks at the forum, shared with the private sector community that there are several policy priorities that can be implemented to safeguard Guyana’s petroleum sector and the economy at large. These include improving the ease of doing business, managing inflation, managing the exchange rate, engaging in sustainable expenditures, government saving for stabilisation and posterity and effectively managing the non-oil deficit to safeguard from the ‘Dutch Disease’.